Wall Street brokerages expect Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE:PANW) to post sales of $525.37 million for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks reports. Thirteen analysts have issued estimates for Palo Alto Networks’ earnings, with the lowest sales estimate coming in at $521.54 million and the highest estimate coming in at $532.73 million. Palo Alto Networks reported sales of $422.60 million in the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year-over-year growth rate of 24.3%. The business is scheduled to announce its next quarterly earnings report after the market closes on Monday, February 26th.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks will report full year sales of $525.37 million for the current year, with estimates ranging from $2.15 billion to $2.20 billion. For the next financial year, analysts anticipate that the company will report sales of $2.60 billion per share, with estimates ranging from $2.55 billion to $2.68 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of research firms that follow Palo Alto Networks.

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Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $505.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $489.36 million. Palo Alto Networks had a negative return on equity of 15.77% and a negative net margin of 11.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share.

A number of research firms have issued reports on PANW. OTR Global upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI set a $180.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Piper Jaffray Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $173.00 price objective (up previously from $155.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up previously from $173.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, November 21st. Finally, Imperial Capital increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and thirty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.39.

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CFO Kathleen Bonanno sold 2,831 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.68, for a total value of $426,575.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,833,726.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Mark Anderson sold 15,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.16, for a total value of $2,250,914.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 186,413 shares in the company, valued at $26,873,298.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 396,644 shares of company stock worth $59,381,588 over the last three months. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Cerebellum GP LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $127,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $162,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 495.2% in the third quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,232 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $192,000. Finally, Commerce Bank bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $221,000. 78.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) opened at $162.08 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks has a twelve month low of $107.31 and a twelve month high of $163.88.

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About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc offers a next-generation security platform. The Company’s security platform consists of three elements: Next-Generation Firewall, Advanced Endpoint Protection and Threat Intelligence Cloud. Its Next-Generation Firewall delivers application, user and content visibility and control, as well as protection against network-based cyber threats integrated within the firewall through its hardware and software architecture.